Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The incomparable (whichever way you take that word) RickSanchez, former Miami news anchor/buffoon, not only got a great gig with CNNafter being giggled out of South Florida, but he’s done quite well.As I sat this afternoon at the St. Thomasairport waiting for my flight, Rick was anchoring a piececovering the changes in immigrationenforcement patterns being seen already in the Obama Administration.It was a good story and I thought it wasworth a mention.

Basically, as we all see, the so-called “First 100 Days” ofPresident Obama’s emerging legacy has been spent in large part with thedismantling of former President Bush’s hodge-podge of ill-conceivedpolicies.In the area of immigrationpolicy, it is notable that Mr. Obama has not only looked “within” (as in withinternal migratory policy) but also “without” (as in eliminating themean-spirited and just-plain-stupid restrictions which kept my 87 year old motherfrom visiting her 89 year old cousin in Cuba because she was a cousin…not asister; sadly, as I was looking into FINALLY taking my mother back to Cuba forone final visit, her cousin died, only days after the rule change.)

But what you guys care about is how Obama’s folks arehandling the “within” immigration issues…especially in the area ofenforcement.As my employer clients arewell aware, I have written quite often about the incongruity seen in Bush’sfinal months in office:asupposedly-business friendly administration out on an aggressive “seek anddeport” mission which left hundreds if not thousands of U.S. employers withoutthe workers they needed…and facing massive fines.Companies like Tyson Foods were rocked to thepoint of serious economic turmoil as a result of large scale raids targetingthose undocumented evil chicken pluckers, here to steal jobs away from theAmerican workers who are so eager to pluck poultry perspicaciously. (

Trust me: you’ve eaten very few chickens which have not been plucked and processed by someone with a Hispanic or Asian last name.

Well, according to Rick and his guest expert, the raids areslowing down significantly and as the expert put it, it is “a good start”.I realize that during this crisis ofunemployment a reduction in enforcement raids is politically risky in a sense…butit is also the right thing to do.Thefacts are clear: our current chaotic rules linking E-Verify with random audits,nebulous I-9 enforcement policies and SSA “No Match” letters is what JeffFoxworthy calls “sheer pandelerium”.Ignorance of the law IS an excuse when those enforcing the laws themselves don’tunderstand the law, as is the case today.

Of course, the LAST thing the Obama administration wants ismore moronic hysteria by the Glenn Becks of the world, so a policy of curtailedraids will not be making the headlines anytime soon. I have long said that if the government tookjust half the money it spends tormenting undocumented but otherwise hardworking laborers and leaving alone the businesses which have no choicebut to hire themand spent that money on teaching employershow to readily comply, it would be the beginning of the end of the problem.

The great irony:thePresident some flakes have accused of being Marxist has, with this subtlechange in policy, squarely proven himself to be the true friend of beleagueredU.S. employers.

In the meantime, I’ll stay tuned to Rick Sanchez to see whatmore he has on immigration, but I will secretly hope that his irreverence doesn’tfade:if you didn’t see Jon Stewart’spiece on Rick and his wonderful voluntary self-tasar-ing video...well, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.